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Katherine Howard
Katherine Howard was the fifth wife of King Henry Tudor and lover of Thomas Culpepper. She was the young attractive mid-life "wife" for the king. The King was wrongly informed she was pure before she entered his bed but unknown to him she had a line of lovers that almost rivalled the King. She made her childhood friend and one of the few people who knew about her past as her lady in waiting whilst having an affair with Culpepper. An old flame came in and blackmailed Katherine into giving him a position at court. She was finally discovered by Edward Seymour, brother of Henry's 3rd wife Jane Seymour, which led to the execution of the "old flame", Culpepper, Katherine and her head lady in waiting, Jane Boleyn, Countess of Rochford and widow to the executed Goerge Boleyn, Anne Boleyn's brother. Season Three While Henry is still with his fourth queen Anne of Cleves he notices Katherine Howard and becomes infatuated with her. It is possible that he was more motivated to divorce Anne of Cleves because of his new attraction to the merely 16 year old Katherine Howard. Season Four Katherine Howard catches King Henry's eye. A while later they are married and Henry is wrongly informed that she is pure before entering his bed but unknown to him, Katherine has had a string of lovers. Katherine turns away from Henry when she falls in love with Thomas Culpepper, the arrogant groom of the King, and they have sex. Henry continues to dote on his unfaithful wife without knowing of her infidelity, but she eventually is dobbed in and her fate is easily predictable. Culpepper, Katherine's maid and Katherine are all executed. The blood is not even wiped off from the previous execution and the adulterous Katherine Howard is beheaded. Personality Katherine was kind and sweet-natured, but being young, she was rather immature. She was easy to use and her own family remorselessly used her- they should have been protecting and guiding her. Katherine never really had what it took to be Queen, though- young and immature, she fell out of love with the King and became Thomas Culepper's lover. Katherine was the youngest of Henry's wives, which was probably why she was so immature and stupid- a Queen of intelligence would know much better than to be adulterous to the King. However, Katherine did have a few endearing traits. She even sent clothing and bonnets to an old woman. This risked Henry's anger. Backstory Katherine was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard, a younger sister of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. and she was the first cousin of Anne Boleyn, Henry's second wife and previous Queen Consort of England, whose mother was Katherine's father's sister. She was the fourth of ten children in her family, and from the age of about 9 or 10, Katherine was brought up in her step-grandmother's household, Agnes Tilney, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. Her mother had died young and her father, despite being a nobleman, was constantly in debt. She came to Henry's court as a lady in waiting to Henry's fourth queen Anne of Cleves. Like her predecessors, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, Katherine caught the King's eye while she served the current queen when it is believed she was just 16 years old and Henry was 49. The King quickly dispatched Anne of Cleves, and married Katherine sixteen days later. Henry was extremely taken with his lively new queen, who amused him as his weight and the wound he recieved from jousting in his earlier days bothered him more and more. On November 24, 1541 Katherine Howard- who the Council had demoted from the title of Queen two days earlier- was indicted for having led 'an abominable, base, carnal, voluptous life before marriage, like a common harlot with divers persons...mantaining however outward appearance of chastity and honesty.' After marriage, she agained showed Dereham notable favour, while she was inciting Culpepper to carnal intercourse, telling him she loved him above the King. Katherine Howard never confessed to adultery, and neither did Culpepper or Dereham. Buckingham had been put to death for intent to commit treason. It was the King's will that Katherine suffer under an act of Attainder which supposedly proved her treason. Katherine herself was condemned to die for the violet presumption that she had committed adultery. On a Sunday, Katherine was informed she was going to die. Perhaps the horror of the clumsy death of Margaret, Countess of Salisbury had communicated itself to her. Of course, Katherine, like most of Henry's wives, suffered and was executed, proof that she condemned herself by marrying the King- just like her cousin Anne Boleyn. '''Gentility: '''The granddaughter of Thomas Howard, the 2nd Duke to Norfolk, Katherine was also the cousin of Queen Anne Boleyn '''Position: '''Lady in waiting to Anne of Cleves, she eventually became Queen Consort of England. Physical Appearance In the series, Katherine is portrayed as having long golden blonde hair and greeny blue eyes, with thick lips. Like all of Henry's queens, she wore beautiful jewelry and crowns, and Henry himself spoiled Katherine rotten with jewels, dresses and dogs- he did dote on his young queen. The following paragraph describes the real Katherine Howard: ''"Sparkling eyes set far apart, with whitened skin unmarred by freckles and tinted with a high and contrasting colouring, were regarded as the epitome of feminine loveliness. Both Katherine and her cousin, Anne Boleyn, had these characteristics, and although the Venetian ambassador was not captivated by Anne's charms, he admitted that her eyes were black and beautiful and that these more than anything else pleased the King. Katherine Howard was not unlike her cousin, and legend has it that she was Henry's most beautiful queen. What ever the truth, all her critics agree that she had auburn hair, was small, plump and vivacious overflowing with so much vitality that Marillac could write that he had nothing to report except a continous amount of banqueting and dancing at court" ''- Lacy Baldwin Smith. Quotes *"I come here to die, I die as a Queen, but I'd rather die as the wife of Culpepper." *"I've spoken to God so rarely, I do not think he would know who I was." *"Life is very beautiful." *"I love you."